A vampire roared loudly, and a moment later Xander went flying head-long into a nearby tree. He managed to roll enough to prevent injury, falling to the ground harshly nonetheless.

He climbed back to his feet and rushed back into the fray, only to be tossed off again. Buffy spun the vampire around and plunged a stake into its heart. It paused only a moment, before exploding into a cloud of grey dust.

The troops gathered together, another battle over. Xander got up off the ground and dusted himself off, "Don't worry about me... only a few things broken."

Buffy shook her head, "This is why I don't want you coming along on patrol, Xander... its just too dangerous."

Xander looked at her with annoyance, "What? I'm making a contribution!" He cracked his neck gently, "Every second they spend tossing me into things is time you have to dust them, Buffy."

"And what happens if we're too busy elsewhere? Or you headfirst into something and get your neck broken? Xander, I am officially forbidding you from coming on patrol."

Xander ran up to her defensively, "You don't have the right to do that... you're not the boss of me!" Xander quoted a line he'd heard in a movie once.

Buffy grabbed him by the collar, "For your information, Xander, when it comes to vampires, I *am* the boss of you. I'm the Slayer, and if I say you can't come on patrol, then you'll stay the hell away, got it?"

Xander looked around to the other members of the gang for support, but found none, not even from Willow.

Buffy turned around, "And that goes for you too, Willow. The only people who are allowed to patrol with me from now on are Giles and Angel."

Xander mocked her bitterly, "Of *course* Angel." He walked off towards home. Buffy gave a look to the rest of them, who departed, and followed him.

*CUT TO: A deserted sidewalk, Xander is pacing along slowly, head lowered.*

"Xander!" Buffy cried. He didn't reply and simply kept walking. She caught up to him and grabbed his arm, "Xander!"

"What is it, Buffy? Huh? Am I not allowed to walk home by myself either?" He screamed, "Am I *that* big of a baby to you?"

Buffy was taken aback, "Xander, I know you aren't a baby."

"Oh really? You could have fooled me." He sighed frustratedly, "I can take care of myself, Buff... and if I get hurt, or hell even killed... it will be for a good cause, and you shouldn't worry about it. All I ever want to do is help make your job... your life, easier."

Buffy's expression softened further, and they resumed walking, "You are a help at times, Xander... but I can't help but worry about you... and if you're getting thrown around, it distracts me from my... work."

They arrived at Xander's yard, the lights in the living room were on. Xander knew he was going to catch hell, once again, from his parents for being so late.

He looked at her sadly and stated, "I'll stop coming on patrol... the last thing I want to do is get you hurt by distracting you."

She was about to take back her request for him to stay away from patrol, when he suprised her with a passionate kiss. It came out of nowhere, and left her breathless. He sighed, "Even if Angel is in the way, I can't help but care as much as I do." He gave her no chance to respond, simply stepped inside, and closed the door on her.

She stared at the door for several moments, before walking back up the path and heading home. She raised two fingers and ran them across her lips, remembering the kiss that held so much emotion. She was so dazed, that she didn't hear the yelling that came from the Harris house.

*CUT TO: The Library several days later.*

Buffy sat scribbling in her notebook, while glancing back and forth into an Algebra book. Willow was typing away at a nearby computer, and Giles was looking through some old texts in his office.

Buffy was only slightly aware of something being missing. She suddenly looked up and glanced around, "Where's Xander?"

Willow stopped her typing and thought, "I... uh..." She frowned, "I have no idea... I haven't seen him for a while."

Buffy frowned too, "I haven't seen him since he stopped coming on patrol... but I don't have any classes with him, so I didn't think anything of it." She stood up and went over to Giles' office, "Giles, have you seen Xander lately?"

Giles looked up from the book he was reading, titled 'Ancient Demon Logic,' and shook his head, "No... I've been a little busy with these texts, though."

Buffy worried, "I..." She paused, not knowing what she was actually going to say, "...I'm worried... I think we should go looking for him."

Willow's eyes narrowed a little, noticing how passionate about finding Xander she had suddenly become. She brought up a relevant issue, "We're already at the end of our rope on attendance, Buffy... besides, he's probably just out sick or something. We can go to his house after school."

Giles stood up, noticing Willow's defensiveness, "Willow, I think Buffy's concern is well-placed. This is the Hellmouth, you understand. Besides, I've had no trouble working around your lack of attendance before. I recommend you both go out in search of him."

Buffy nodded, as did Willow, though relucantly, "Okay, Willow, you go check out his house... I'll hit the Bronze and any place else I can." She threw her books into her back, grabbed her coat, and headed out of the room.

Willow followed slowly, her reservation about going to Xander's house evident.

*CUT TO: The Bronze. Buffy comes through the doors and looks around for him everywhere. But finds no sign of him.*

*CUT BACK TO: The Library. Giles and Willow are sitting at the table, their faces a little pale, and a note laying on the table. Buffy enters.*

She came bounding in, "There was no sign of him at the Bronze or anywhere else I went... How about you, Will? Did you find anything?" She noticed Giles and Willow's faces, "Will? Whats wrong?"

There was no response, and she feared the worst, "Is he dead? What is it? Talk to me!" She yelled.

"He's not dead." Giles said calmly, motioning towards the note on the table. Buffy ran over and snatched it up. She read it immediately.

"Hey, guys. I don't know when you'll actually get to read this, but hopefully you will. The other night, doesn't really matter which one, my parents were up when I got home from patrol. They were less than happy. In fact, they decided to confront me about my repeated curfew mishaps and my less than stellar report card. To make a long story short... there was a lot of yelling and, well, I'm being relocated indefinitely. Effective immediately, your Xander-shaped friend will be moving to live with his Aunt Edith in a cape just this side of Massechusetts. I'm really sorry that I couldn't tell you about this myself, but they already have me packed and on a plane tomorrow morning. The only thing they let me do is write this note, and promised to get it to you. I don't know if I believe that, but I can hope. Maybe I'll call in a few days, once I get settled.

Love,
Xander"

Buffy had paled herself. Her eyes were filled with tears, which finally began spilling over. A million thoughts ran through her head, as she lost all control and her temper flared. Giles just managed to get out of the way before she slammed her hand down on the desk hard, cracking it in two and almost completely splitting it. Buffy was mumbling incoherently, tears streaming down her eyes. Willow began crying again, and even Giles' eyes were watering.

So ended Xander's term as a Slayerette.

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I'd love to hear what you think... and why not go check out http://northernstar.8m.com/acos/ Its the page I put together about this particular series. I'd love to hear what you think of that too.

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